Socializing Sustainability : Green Herald’s Green World Earth Club

Sustainability is rather a sense of responsibility than awareness. Although many books might not discuss this as a subject for socialization, the present condition of earth demands this sense to be instilled as a basic instinct among its citizens, much more than the vanity of awareness and more as quality of a social being. Making sustainability as natural a learning as ABCs can only be done from the young age. What adulthood cannot absorb even after many a lecture and seminar, youth and childhood takes it in easily to be the making of a person-something that becomes a basic instinct rather than something to remind us every now and then. After family, this demanding subject of socialization of a person can be sought best at schools.

Realizing the significance of instilling the right knowledge at the right age, St. Francis Xavier’s Green Herald International School started the Green World Earth Club (GWEC) in 2010. For Dhaka dwellers and outside St. Francis Xavier’s is a name acquainted with from before the birth of the country. Formerly known as St. Francis Xavier’s Luxmibazar English medium, the school was closed during the liberation war and began its journey again with its present name at Mohammadpur Area of the city in 1972. The School is administered under the Catholic Archdiocese of Dhaka.

Photo Courtesy: Green World Earth Club

How efficiently a child can be socialized to think, plan and be aware regarding the burning issues of the environment surrounding him/her depends a lot on the how updated and organized the mediums of socialization are in delivering this significant task. GWEC is a recent addition of the school and stands to maintain the institution’s reputation of planned and arranged curriculum fostering an environment of up-to-date knowledge enhancement. A visit to the website makes it clear that the address is more than a domain representing a mere existence of an environmental initiative but is also a space that lists all the important resources a person could be looking for to start a study on the matters of environment. GWEC is active online through its Facebook page and website. Along with posting of different events attended and arranged by the club, the website features prime links of significant environmental talks, blogas, news including more common UNEP, UN Climate Change, National Geographic. To mention more, TED Environmental Blog, Sir Partha Dasgupta-The Green Economy, R. C. Guha Blog – and all kind of up-to-date information are also included that a student, or anyone interested in the field, might need to pursue better knowledge on the subject. It is not uncommon for clubs as such to have similar websites but it is certainly rare to find platforms that screen the most important aspect of enhancement – gaining up-to-date knowledge from various sources.

Photo Courtesy: Green World Earth Club

The Club is run by an administrative group formed annually through an exchange of responsibility from the previous officials to a group of new ones. Among its regular programs remain ‘The Annual Nature Project Display Competition’ and publication of its magazine ‘Green Watch’ that focuses on a chosen subject every year. This year the club is planning to hold up different issues regarding the Hydrosphere. Among its recent activities, GWEC brought the National Environment Olympiad for all the students of school. It has arranged for its members to participate in invitations from the government for rallies and seminars on World Tiger’s Day as well as World Wildlife Day. The club participated in the 1st International Nature Summit called ‘Green Inspiration 2015. It has recently joined the initiative of Asia Pacific University to clean Dhaka in the Asad Avenue area of the city. It has taken part in Earth Hour 2015 on March 28 and keeps itself updated to programs as such both in the national and international arena.

GWEC aims to implement and participate in newer programs and ideas to spread awareness about issues at hand. Clubs as such, if fostered more and administered efficiently, can create a future generation more efficiently socialized in sustainability management.